EV Favored To Win Frontier Title
The line is always a good place to start when building a football team.
“If I had my druthers I’d much rather have a solid line and go from there than the other way around,” said East Valley coach Jim Clements.
East Valley has a good one, anchored by a pair of three-year starters, 235-pound T.J. Horgan and 250-pound Ryan Stengle.
“They are real solid, no doubt about it,” said Clements.
They were in the lineup when EV finished second in the Frontier League and nearly upset state power Prosser in the first round of the AA playoffs last year.
Now, the Knights are members of a four-team Frontier League with one state playoff entrant. Horgan and Stengle are a major reason league coaches pick EV to win it.
“It’s nice to be thought of highly in league, but you’ve got to prove it,” said Clements. “We have a long, long way to go.”
Clements is entering his sixth season as coach with Horgan and Stengle on one side of the line. Veterans Jared Van Duyne and Nick Hansen are opposite Horgan. His sophomore brother Blake Horgan will play tackle opposite Stengle.
“Blake can be every bit as good as his brother,” said Clements. “It’s a big jump from freshman ball to varsity. We’ll see how he adjusts.”
John Shogren replaces his graduated brother, Paul, at center. John Unser returns at tight end. Varsity veterans Charlie Sitton, John Hirst and Mike Eller provide line depth.
They’ll be blocking for a brand new backfield which, says Clements, balances the experience scales.
Seniors Kris Allen and Jesse Quirk are inexperienced quarterbacks.
They’ll hand off to a slew of runners in EV’s Wing T offense. Rusty Ruchert has the most varsity game time. Brandon Blize, moved from receiver, provides exceptional speed.
Others in the mix are lettermen James Moss, Brad Crockett, Mike Sterling, Dale Johnson and newcomers Adrian Likely, Chris Dassow, Robby Jones, Adam Sitton and Andrew Gillespie.
“We have 11 running backs, any who could emerge as one of the top three,” said Clements. “I would say this bunch might be more athletic than last year’s.”
Receivers Randy Pratt, Mitch Johnson, Jason Bray and Jeremy Johnson also have talent.
The aforementioned two dozen-plus athletes will also play defense. Clements has returned to the 4-4 base that he used at West Valley and Pullman.
“We’ve been switching in and out and are going with something we all know,” he said. “It best suits high school football and our personnel.”
Outside linebackers include Unser, Gillespie, Crockett, Stirling, Jones and Ronnie Dubs. Middle linebackers are Ruchert, Hansen and Dassow.
Secondary personnel are Mitch Johnson, Likely, Moss, Blize, Pratt, Jeremy Johnson, Sitton and Bray.
“Outside of Horgan and Stengle, we’re a bunch of no-names,” said Clements. “It will be a while before we have a true assessment of how good we’ll be.”
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